Ribbon mechanism for type-writing machines.



No. 876,454. PATENTED JAN. 14, 1908. F. HEUSER. RIBBON MECHANISM FOR TYPE WRITING MACHINES.

APPLIGATION FILED JAN. ii, 1906.

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No. 876,454. PATENTED JAN. 14, 1908.

. F. HBUSER.

RIBBON MECHANISM FOR TYPE WRITING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 5, 1906.

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No. 876,454. PATENTED JAN.14, 1908. F. HEUSER. RIBBON MECHANISM FOR TYPE WRITING MACHINES.

APPLICATION FILED JAN. 5, 1906.

3 SHEETSSHEET 3.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFIQ.

FREDERICK HEUSER, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THE ARITHMOGBAPH COMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, A CORPORATION.

tiIBBON MECHANISM FOR TYPE-WRITIN G MACHINES.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Jan. 14, 1908.

Application filed January 6. 1906. Serial No. 294.710.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that'I, FREDERICK HEUSER, a citizen of the United-States, and a resident of Chicago, county of Cook, and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Ribbon Mechanism for Type- Writing Machines, of which the following is declared to be-a full, clear, and exact de scri tion.

T e inventionrelates to ribbon mechanism fortypewriting machines and seeks to provide an improved form of spool with which the ribbon may be readily connected and disconnected.

A further object of the invention is to rovide, in connection with the mechanismfor driving either of the ribbon spools, a simple form of braking device that will be auto-I maticallyap lied to the.loose's 001 so that all slack in tl fe ribbon will be talien up.

Withthese objects in view the invention consists in the features of construction, combinations and arrangements of parts hereinafter set forth, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and more particularly pointed out in the appended claims. In the drawings, Figure 1 is a plan view of I the improved ri bon mechanism with parts of the machine shown in section and in dotted lines. Fig. 2 is a view in section on lines 22 of Figs. 1 and 3. Fig. 3'is a section on line 33 of'Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a sectional view of the improved ribbon spool taken on line'44 of Fig. 5. Fig. 5'is a sectional view of the spool taken on line 5-5 of Fig. 4. Fig. 6 is a detail section on line 66 of Fi 5.

While the improved ribbon mechanism may be applied to many st les of typewriters, it'is partlcularly applicab e and is shown as applied to the form of front strike typewriter set forth in the a plication of C. N. Fay, Serial No. 250,944, fi ed March 20, 1905, in which the type are arranged to strike the front of the platen at a-point below the center and in which a portion of the ribbon is held in inclined position in front of and par allel to a tangent through the printing point. I With this arrangement, the line of print is visible without necessitating the use of a ribbon shifter, as in most front strike type writers.

The top plate 10 is mounted upon the,

usual corner posts 11 and carries the rails 12 for the carriage 13. The laten 14 is journaled to the side bars of the carriage. For the sake of clearness, many of the parts thus far described are shown 111 dotted lines in Figs. 1 and 2. V

The ribbon spools 15 are-pref rably arranged in vertical position below the top late and slightlyin advance of a vertical ine tangent to the front of tie platen. These s end "of orizontal shafts 16 that are journaled in brackets 17 and 18 fixed to and depending from the side portions of the top plate 10. At their rear endsthe spool shafts 16 are provided with beveled gears 19 that are arranged to mesh with beveled pinions 20 upon the main drive shaft 21 This shaft is longitudinally shiftable' through suitable bearings in the brackets 18 and the pinions 20 are so arranged that when one is in en.- gagement with .its vcorresponding gear. 19, the other is out of engagement. The pinions 20 are also arranged to drive the corresponding spool shafts in opposite directions so that when the ribbon is unwound from one spool,

its direction of travel may be reversed to unwind it from'the other s 001. The main shaft 21 is operated from t e carriage driving drum 2 m the usual manner through the medium of the beveled gears 23 and 24. Gear23 is connected to the inner face of the drum and gear 24 is mounted upon the shaft 21, but is suitably held against longitudinal movement therewith by a bracket 25 depending from the top plate of the machine. At one end the shaft 21 is provided with a handle 26 by which the ribbon may be wound by hand. Other. mechanism may be employed for driving either of the ribbon spools without departure from the essentials of the invention.

The ribbon passes upwardly from the spools over a palrof horizontal guide rollers 27 that are mounted upon pins 28 fixed to brackets '29, that,are mounted upon the side "portions of the to plate 10. The brackets 29 are extende I inwardly toward each other toforin guide fingers 30, the inner ends of which are provided with U-shaped clips 31 which engage the portion of the ribbon between the guide spools 27 and twist the same into a plane parallel ools are carried upon the forward these to a tangent through the printing point.

Other'means may be employed for guiding ti'on 37 of the stud. By this ,arrangement,

the collars 35 are freely rotatable upon the reduced oortions 34 of the studs 32. To each of the collars 35 is fixed a braking device that is preferably in the form of a finger or stri 38 of spring metal, the upper end of which is bent around and secured to the collar 35. 'At their lower ends the brake fingers 38 are bent inwardly to form the offset curved portions 3% that engage or rest upon the spool shafts 16. As stated, ngers are each bent inwardl so that they are oppositely disposed, as indicated in Fig. 2, and the curved portions 39 thereof are-substantially concentric with the ivot studs 32, except that the distance between the pivots and the free ends of the curved portions 39 of the springs, when unconfined, is greater than the distance between the pivots and the outer ends of these. curved portions. By this arrange- 51551;, when one of the spring fingers is in position indicated in full lines in Fig. 6,

width its free end against the spool shaft, it

will press'upon the shaft whereas, when it is in the position indicated in dotted lines it will merely rest u on the shafts with little or no pressure. ese s rings are arranged to be shifted through theirfrictional engagement with the spool shafts and by the movement of such shafts from one to the other position so that they will beautomatica ly thrown out of operation with the.

driven s ool shaft and into operative rela tion with the loose shaft. In Fig. 1 the driving mechanism is shown in drive the lefthand spool and s aft, while the-spool and shaft at the right of the figures are loose or free from the driving mechanism. The direction of movement of,

the spools in this position of the driving mechanism' is indicated b arrows in Fig. 2 and it is ap arent that t e rotation of the driven spoo shaft 16 at the left will shift the brake finger inwardly into the osition shown, so that it will bear with litt e or no pressure upon the shaft. But the loose shaft 16 at the right will move the spring 'finger outwardly into the position shown, so that it will press upon the shaft and act as a brake upon the loose spool to take upallslack and place a slight tensionupon the osition to ortion of the ribbon between the spools.

hen the direction of the movement of the spool shaft is reversed,=the brake fingers will be automatically shifted by the change of movement of the spool shafts, so that the pressure on the driven shaft is diminished and that on the loose shaft increased. By this arrangement, the desired frictional or braking pressure 'is automatically laced upon the loose s ool whether the rib on is moved in one irection or the other. It should be noted that the spring fingers are pivoted to swing. easily and freely upon the studs 32 so that they may be readily shifted by the movement of the spool shafts through the frictional engagement there with. The ends of the curved portions 3.9 of the spring fingers are curved' or bent downwardly so that they cannot be shifted by the movement of the loose spool shaft out of engagement therewith, and so that this curved portion will more snugly: bear upon the loose spool shaft as indicated at the right in Fig. 2 and in full lines in Fig. 6.

It is obvious that the details setforth of this improved brake mechanism -may be widely varied and that it may be applied to different spool mechanisms without depar ture from the essentials of the invention.

The improved spool construction comprises the circular endsor plates 40 that are preferably formed of sheet-metal and providedwith central openings adapted to fit over the forward reduced ends 41 of the spool shafts 16. The end plates are connected by the hub 42 that is formed of a cylindrical strip preferably of spring metal. The edges of this strip are provi ed with ears 43 that extend through openings inthe end plates 40 and are bent over into engagement with the outer faces thereof to securely hold these-plates against the ends of the hub.

The strip forming the hub 42 is preferably Wound somewhat in spiral form, so that its end portions 44 and 45 overlap and are arranged to grip the end of the ribbon between them. One pair of the fastening ears 43, are secured to the outerend portion 44, so that it is fixed in position between the end plates 40 of the'spool. The ears 43, however, that are nearest the inner end portion 45, are located (see Fig. 4) some distance from-the e d of the strip, so that the inner end portion 5 is free to spring outwardly to gri the end of the ribbon between it and the edend portion 44, or to yield inwardly to release the ribbon,

. The inner-end portion 45 is provided with an offset adapted to'bear upon the spool I shaft,- so that it is pressed outwardly toward thefixed end portion 44 to grip the ribbon. This offset 46 1s preferabl formed by bending the extreme'inner en of the metal strip from which the hub is formed inwardly in radial direction. The offset end portion as shown in Figs. 4 and 5 is adapted to engage a key-way 47 in the reduced end 41 of the spool shaft,jso that the spool is secured. to the shaft'to rotate therewith. As shown in Figs. 3 and 5, the reduced forward ends dl of the spool shafts 16 extend in front of the supporting brackets 17, so that the spools may readily be placed in po.

sition or removed from the shafts. The, in.- ner portion of the edge of offset46 is curved or cam-shaped, as clearly shown in Fig. 5, so that it will readily engage the key-way 47 of."

the shaft. The inner end of the key-way is correspondingly shaped, so that when the spool is thrust into position on the shaft against the shoulder 48 thereof, the yield.

ing inner end portion 4510f the hub will be pressed outwardly to firmly grip ,the end of the ribbonor the end of. the strip to which the ribbon is attached. The ends ofthe offset 46 project through slots inthe ends 40.0f the spools so that it may be readily gripped when the spool is removed from the shaft to spool to rotate with the shaft. It is obvious that numerous changes may be made in the details of structure set forth without departing from the essentials of the invention.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

13' In'ribbon mechanism for typewriting machines, the combination of the pair ofribbon spools, reversible mechanism for driving either ofsaid s ools and friction braking devices associate with said spools and arranged to be automatically thrown into operation with the loose spool and out of operation with the driven spool, substantially as de scribed.

2. In ribhon mechanism for typewriting machines, the combination of the air of ribbon spools, reversible mechanism or driving either of said s ools and a pair of movable, spring brake mgers associated with said spools arranged to be automatically shifted by the movement of said spools into operative relation with the loose spool and out of operative relation with the driven spool, substantially as described. p

3. In ribbon 'mechanism'for typewriting machines, the combination with the ribbon spools,ribb on guides and spool shafts, and with mechanism for dri t? either of said shafts, of apair of brake fingers respectively i engaging said shafts, arranged to be shifted The construction is simple said shafts, collars loosely studs, spring brake-fingers lars and having curved portions respectively grip the end of the rib by the reversal'of said driving mechanism, to

bear with increased tension on the loose shaft and with diminishedtension on the driven shaft, substantially as described. I

4. In rilol'ion mechanism for. typewrit'ing machines, the combination with'the ribbon spools, ribbon guides and spool shafts, and with mechanism for driving either of said shafts, of .a pair of freely pivoted s ring brake fingers, having curved portions earing on said shafts and arranged to be automatically shifted by. their frictional engagement with said shafts to bear with increased 'tension the loose shaft and with diminished tension on the driven shaft, substantially as described.

5. In ribbon mechanism for typewriting machines, the combination with the ribbon spools, ribbon guides and spool shafts, and with mechanism for'driving either of said shafts, of a pair of friction brake-fingers piv- I oted to swing freely and having offset curved portions respectively engaging said, Shafts and arranged to be automatically shifted by the reversal in movement of said shafts; and

through their frictional engagement therewith to bear with increased pressure on the loose shaft and with diminished pressure on the driven shaft, said fingers having bent end ortions to prevent the disengagement thereof from said shafts, substantially as described.

6. In ribbon mechanism for. t pewriting. machines, the combination with t e vertical ribbon spools and ribbon guides, horizontal shafts wherein the spools are mounted, and

mechanism for driving either of said shafts, of studs. fixed to the machine frame above ivotedon said ed to said colresting on said shafts and arranged to be shiftedby the frictional engagement therewith to bear with increased pressure on the loose shaftand with diminished pressure on the driven shaft, substantiallyas described.

7. A. typewriter ribbon spool comprising end portions and a connecting hub formed of a metal strip having overlapping ends in yielding engagement and arranged to receive the end of the ribbon between them and means for pressing said overlapping ends together to securely grip the ribbon, substantially as described.

8. A typewrlter rlbbon spool comprising end portions and a connecting hub formed of a substantially cylindrical strip 'of spring .metal having overlapping end portions, one

of which end portions is held in yielding engagement wit the other and means for se curely holding said end portions togetherto substantially as described. I

9. A typewriter ribbon spool comprising flat ends and a connecting hub formed of a u stantially' cylindrica strip of sprin on between them metal, one of the end. portions of which 6X- tends within and presses yiel'dingly toward the other end portion to hold the end of the ribbon, said yielding end portion having an oll'set arranged to engage the ribbon shaft, whereby it will be pressed outwardly when in operative position to securely grip the rib hon, substantially as describedp ll). A typewriter ribbon spool comprising tlat ends and a connecting hub formed of a substantially cylindrical strip of spring metal, one of the end portions of which extends within and presses yieldingly toward the other end portion to hold the end of theribbon, said yielding end portion having a radially extending oll'set arranged to engage a key-way in the spool shalt, substantially as desi'ribed.

.11., A typewriter ribbon spool comprising Ila-t ends and aconnectinghub formed of a substantially cylindrical strip of spring metal, one of the end portions of whielr extends Within and ressesyieldingly toward the other end portion to hold the. end ofthe ribbon, sai'd yielding end portion having a radially ex tending oil'set arranged to engage a key-way in the spool shaft, said olfset having end portions projecting through the ends of the spool,- substantially as described.

12. ribbon spool for typewriters comprising end plates and a connecting hub portion formed of a spring metal strip connected to said end plates throughoutthe greater porportion of its length by bent ears extending through openings therein, said hub having its innerend portion extendingwithin the outer end portion and movable oryieldin to grip the end of the ribbon and said yiel ing end portion having a radial offset arranged to engage the key-way of the spool shaft, substantially as described.

14. Irr'typewriting machine, the combination with the spool shaft, of a ribbon s ool freely removable over the end of said s aft and comprising end plates and a connecting hubformed of a spring metal strip havi'n overlapping end portions to engage the on of the ribbon, the inner end portion being movable or yielding and having an offset arranged to engage the key-w'ay of the shaft and arranged to be pressed outwardly when in osition on the shaft to securely grip the ribbon, substantially as described.

FREDERICK HEUSER.

Witnesses:

LILLIAN PRENTICE, KATHARINE GERLAOH. 

